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Title: Russian Ark (2002)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sergey Dreyden | ... | The Stranger (The Marquis de Custine) | |
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Mariya Kuznetsova | ... | Catherine The Great |
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Leonid Mozgovoy | ... | The Spy |
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Mikhail Piotrovsky | ... | Self (Hermitage Director) |
| David Giorgobiani | ... | Orbeli | |
| Aleksandr Chaban | ... | Boris Piotrovsky | |
| Lev Eliseev | ... | Self | |
|
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Oleg Khmelnitsky | ... | Self |
| Alla Osipenko | ... | Self | |
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Artyom Strelnikov | ... | Talented Boy |
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Tamara Kurenkova | ... | Self (Blind Woman) |
| Maksim Sergeev | ... | Peter the Great | |
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Natalya Nikulenko | ... | Catherine the Great |
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Elena Rufanova | ... | First Lady |
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Yelena Spiridonova | ... | Second Lady |
An unseen man regains consciousness, not knowing who or where he is. No one seems to be able to see him, except the mysterious man dressed in black. He eventually learns through their discussions that this man is a 19th century French aristocrat, who he coins the "European". This turn of events is unusual as the unseen man has a knowledge of the present day. The two quickly learn that they are in the Winter Palace of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the European who has a comprehensive knowledge of Russian history to his time. As the two travel through the palace and its grounds, they interact with people from various eras of Russian history, either through events that have happened at the palace or through the viewing of artifacts housed in the museum. Ultimately, the unseen man's desired journey is to move forward, with or without his European companion. Written by Huggo
"Russian Ark" is an extraordinary docu-drama approach to bringing architectural history alive. It brings the "living history" approach of "Colonial Williamsburg" etc. to cinema.
It would have been enough that the director got extensive access to the Hermitage Museum in Petersburg to show it to us.
It would have been enough to have authentic costumes, choreography, and make-up for several centuries of Russian history. (I was reminded that my husband's grandmother was a young seamstress for rich folks like these, making this extravagant lifestyle possible.)
It would have been enough to have literally a cast of thousands because how else can one really know how those fantastic ballrooms and grand staircases were meant to be used and seen without a full orchestra and gowned and uniformed participants as far as the camera can see?
It would have been enough to come up with a cute gimmick of a time-traveling two-some to glide us through the rooms of the Hermitage to show the tsars, aristocrats, curators, and ordinary Russian tourists who have passed through over the years, with humorous commentary on Russia's changing relationship with Europe over these centuries as shown through the art and architecture of the building while wars and revolutions loomed outside.
But then, it would have been enough that it's all done in a single take over just an hour and a half with luscious cinematography.
There was a slow line to get in the theater so I missed the opening historical background, and I've learned most of my Russian (let alone European) history from novels and movies so I did get a bit lost here and there wandering the corridors of history, but the unseen narrator posits that this is all a dreamscape anyway.
I made a point of seeing this because a fellow cinephile who I frequently bump into at my local arthouse had directly called the distributor asking when it would be playing elsewhere and was told they can't afford to make more prints available so one can only see it at the Manhattan theaters -- so make a point to see it on a movie screen and not just wait for when the History Channel shows a reduced version.